Microsoft Preparing to Offer Teams as Standalone Product in European Union
Brussels: Microsoft said on Thursday it would separate its chat and video app Teams from its Office product and make it easier for rival products to use its software, but rivals said it may need to do more to avoid a potential antitrust fine from the EU.
The proposed changes come a month after the European Commission launched an investigation into the tying of Microsoft’s Office and Teams following a 2020 complaint by Salesforce-owned rival workplace messaging app Slack.
The moves announced by Microsoft on Thursday were similar to initial concessions that had not resolved regulatory concerns. The EU competition authority announced that it had taken into account the company’s announcement and refused to comment further.
The commission could formally charge the company in the fall if it does not step up its bid, people familiar with the matter told Reuters last month.
Teams was added to Office 365 in 2017 for free. It eventually replaced Skype for Business and gained popularity during the pandemic in part because of its video conferencing.
“Today we are announcing proactive changes that we hope will begin to address these concerns in a meaningful way, even as the European Commission’s investigation continues and we are cooperating with it,” Nanna-Louise Linde, Microsoft’s vice president of European governance, said in a statement. blog post.
He said the changes aim to address two EU concerns, “that customers should be able to choose a business package without Teams at a lower price than those with Teams, and that we should do more to facilitate interoperability between competing communication and collaboration solutions. and Microsoft 365- and Office 365 software packages”.
The changes that entered into force on October 1 will enter into force in the EU and Switzerland.
Microsoft’s core business customers, who represent the majority of the company’s commercial companies in Europe, can switch to the Office version excluding Teams for 2 euros per month cheaper than with Teams. New business customers can purchase Teams independently and separately for 5 euros per month.
New support resources are being introduced to help customers and ISPs who want to remove data from Teams and use it in another product.
Microsoft is also developing a new method for hosting Office web apps on competing apps and services similar to Teams.
Slack’s owner, Salesforce, said it had nothing to add.
Competitors say Microsoft’s bid as such would likely not win EU antitrust scrutiny.
“This is playing to the gallery. I don’t think the commission will appreciate it. There is nothing to add to the offer,” an industry source said.
The stakes are high for the U.S. tech giant, which racked up 2.2 billion euros ($2.40 billion) in EU antitrust fines over the past decade for tying or bundling two or more products together, but has since sought a more conciliatory approach with regulators.
